I’m yet to mention one of the most important characters in this series in a review. I’m, of course, talking about Severus Snape.

Severus, the unsung hero.



Severus, who sacrificed his own soul.



Severus, who loved another more than life itself.



Severus, the half-blood prince- the truth about his character was, and will likely always be, one of the most surprising twists I’ve ever read in fiction. The set up is all in this book.

Actual rating: 4.25 stars

This review and other non-spoilery reviews can be found @The Book Prescription

Why did Professor Snape stand in the middle of the road?
So you’ll never know which side he’s on!!

Reread 2022: Again, I listened to the audio via my library for my insomnia. I don't support or share JK Rowling's views. Trans women are women.

My favourite book of the series. I love how it ties so neatly with Chamber of Secrets, all the little references and backstory to support the Horcrux theory. I particularly loved the interactions between Harry and Dumbledore, who seems to approach Harry with something other than just a boy who needs protecting. He's finally privy to Dumbledores secrets and suspicions, and is treated like an equal. I love the Voldemort back story (I hate that they missed everything regarding Merope out in the movies). Merope is such a pitiful figure - abused ruthlessly by her father and brother, woefully neglected to the point that her whole life seems worthless. Is it any wonder she escaped at the first opportunity and essentially gave into her fantasy of a loving, caring family?

I still cry every time at that ending too. It's a good set up for the final novel, as we see Harry and co. branch out on their own. There's no one to protect Harry anymore.

Z każdym kolejnym czytaniem/słuchaniem odkrywam zupełnie nowe szczegóły, zachwycam się innymi wątkami. Nie mogę uwierzyć, że kolejny raz jestem już prawie u celu tej przygody.
Harry Potter to mój totalny comfort read, a jednak im bliżej końca serii tym trudniej mi się z nim rozstać, kolejny raz.

(A) 86% | Extraordinary
Notes: It dwells on the delightfully mundane aspects of the magical world, and adds new dimensions to familiar characters.

4.5 Golden Stars

92%

yeah, it was dark, but probably the most Hilarious book of HP; it IS a Comedy! I was rolling in laughter! Hilarious Ron, sassy Harry & Hermione's wittiness & the unique fun in the writing style, the impression, the descriptions, the comparisons.

anyway, don't get mad at me, but this book is my least favourite in Harry Potter series. it was kind of disappointment for me.
3 years gap, reading the other fantastic books many times, guessing & after that shocking end in book 5, looking forward to this one, to be greater than others as we are close to end...
in one sentence: I was not satisfied after reading it. (IK the book was the calm before the storm, but still.)

& don't get me wrong; it was a disappointment Only compared to other HP books.

Boring start. (2 chapters without anything related to Hogwarts or the golden trio)

Harry was obsessed with what Malfoy was up to, the whole year & for the first time, I found Harry annoying. risking for no good reason, only his hunch. maybe this is the main reason I didn't like this book. (I hate 'Sectumsempra' chapter , always get mad at him.)
always yelling:
Don't!
No!
you idiot, Harry!

because he is my favourite character...
(though now after many times re-reading, at some points, I found those parts hilarious too, )

at the end, he was right though.

also, lack of funny sarcastic retorts between Harry & Draco :(

almost whole events were like side-jobs (except the... you-know-what)
A.K.A the Slug club
truth: I don't care about Slughorn either. those chapter he just talked & talked about celebrities once-were-his students... ughhhh.

Adrenaline peak parts were not satisfying & not enough (amounts). the whole story was a bit ordinary & nothing happened in the whole school year, in particular. (like school wasn't at an immediate, solid grave danger (book 2, 3, 7 & maybe 5), the golden trio wasn't solving mysteries (1, 2, 4, 5, 7) or something as intriguing as these. they were just attending classes, boring parties, slug club & these normal stuff.
though I like the classes & the Hogwarts routine, justt ass I enjoyed in book 5. whenever I missed Hogwarts this book, along with 5, is my go-to.
just the Slug club ruined it a little.

but in total, other parts (except Malfoy & Slug club); maybe not high peak of adrenaline (as I said), but interesting, & funny; we all wanted to know who the half-blood prince was, Quidditch was great as always & the parts with Dumbledore were fascinating.
I liked the second half of the book more, like finally this book stepped into action!
& that end was the "Beginning of the End"!

But main reason: his obsession with Malfoy; 'OMG! Harry, just come off it!', therefore Harry being annoying, therefore lack of Harry's sarcasm comebacks with Malfoy, lowered this book to my least favourite.


However....
on the bright side, there are parts I love too:

❤ sassy Harry was the best!


There's no need to call me "sir", professor.



Bless you JKR!
Bless you Harry Potter!
one of the sassiest comments in the history of sass masters!


my first reaction when I see this, was: whaaaa!?... then "omg! Harry! did you just...!?" & re-read the sentence to see if I got it right & then... putting the book down ("Hail Harry Potter!") & burst out laughing!
& that's that, ever since!

although there was no sarcastic comebacks between Potter & Malfoy, but this book had many funny moments by other characters.

"Well, you can’t break an Unbreakable Vow..." (Gee! Thanks Ron!)
"I’d worked that much out for myself, funnily enough!”


& Harry was not just being sassy & sarcastic, but also being funny & clueless too, which was laughable.

Ron's jokes with ghosts always made me choke with laughter!


❤ Friendships
Harry & Ron's friendship (always one of my favourite brotps) funny, great, looking after each other. always love it, in all books.

Roonil Wazlib!

also Harry & Hermione's. (especially after Ron & Hermione's bickering), beautiful, caring, protective. again, I love it in all the books.

I actually noticed after years of rereading, now Romione has lowered in its place for me & I ship these two more. they care so much for each other.
(I'm thinking it's probably also a brotp. well, it's complicated to decide if I want to accept the canon (because I do love canon too) or my mind. the point is, I love the moments with these two together :)

❤ the writing style is just Unique & perfect & funny!

❤ my favourite chapters are "the Cave" & "Horcruxes"; awesome, exciting with unexpected amount of surprises. I actually loved them.
I loved the main-stream parts with Dumbledore.
I loved how Harry, at some points, admired Tom.
& how he unfolded this story & also sympathized with other characters.

❤ I liked Dumbledore in this book.

❤ at least after that terrible mistake (mentioned above), the chapter ended beautifully; my favourite part, that magical romantic moment, how well described, what a glamorous scene. My first ship finally sinking!


"... After several long moments, or it might have been half an hour-or possibly several sunlit days- they broke apart.
The creature in his chest roaring in triumph."

(& I was really angry when the movie CHANGED this scene! actually I really loved the first 3 movies (they were so similar to the books) & 5 too (tho it was a bit different & they mostly deleted the humor parts), 4 was similar enough, just darker than my imagination. but movies 6 & 7 just had the same quotes (almost) & changed or deleted scenes a lot, therefore those completely disappointed me. :(

❤ & I was proud Harry became Team Captain!

Quidditch were funny, especially the first one (You Clever Harry! XD). except not the commentator, but Harry made a funny moment of that too ;)

❤ Don't forget how Gracefully this book was written. (& how delicately Rowling chose to show they were swearing without any direct swears. I love it. it doesn't make me apprehensive, on the contrary, it makes me laugh very hard & respect the pure talent.)
Hail Queen!

10th read; November 2019: I could've given 5 Stars because of Sassy Harry (I mean, Harry just being savagely Sassy this year! XD) & beautiful, magnificent choices of the words & compare to a few of my 5 stars this book definitely deserves 5; but I'm not satisfied with it (still things that annoy me) so I probably won't. Although there's a progress, the rating score has risen to 4.5 now.
13th read; June 2022: never have read this book this quick! thanks to BR with my new Potterhead! (slow down girl!

Welcome to my re-read of the phenomenal series “Harry Potter”.

Dumbledore made up for his absence in book 5 here but first Sirius and now Dumbledore, I am drowning in the sea of sadness and crying.

“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.”



JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is one of my favorites! Lots of questions answered in this installment along with an amazing story! Enjoyed! Ready for the Deathly Hallows!

Re-Read, 1/13/23:

Finished this with my girl on the wonderfully appropriate Friday the 13th. :)

Lucky, unlucky, death, oppression, and a much better book than the movie.

My girl loved it, of course, even if she was super sad. But on a positive note, she was as pissed about what was left out of the movie as I was. So much action, better reveals, better UNDERSTANDING of what was going on. Alas.

A very good book, growing better with re-reads.


Original Review:

Buddy Re-Read continues!

I read this last almost the day after it originally came out and was amazed at the big reveals... Guess who Dies and guess who the Prince is! ... but more than that, I was pretty blah and then very enthused as we learned more and more and more and more about Mr. Riddle as Harry kept sticking his head under water. It was a hate/love relationship for me. I wanted to know about our big bad. I really did. And then I also wanted to just get over all the cleverly-installed flashbacks and get on with the freaking story.

That was before the movie.

And so the movie came out and I was all like... Where is all the backstory for Voldemort? This is hardly anything! This is just a brief little taste! How are we supposed to feel the deep revulsion AND pity for the man if we can't get more screen time for him??? And so I fell BACK on the bandwagon for all those pretty flashbacks.

Ah, the trials and tribulations of a fanboy.

This is like knowing Frank Herbert's Dune inside and out and then watching the Lynch mindf*** and spending more than 3/4 of the movie filling in all the details that are left unsaid in the film that make the story deeper and more amazing than the acid trip that I was watching.

Okay. Maybe the HP6 film wasn't QUITE that bad and there were a lot of brilliant moments that were visual and direct link-ups to the main plot in the HP7 movies, so continuity was preserved very well. Still, the lack of time with Snape's younger cursecrafting self and the lack of all the mystery subplot with Dumbledore, himself, made the end events kind of rushed and confusing within the movie.

Not so at all within the book.

The book was a real page-turner for me. Again. I love in-depth reasons. A lot. :)


Still a great book! :)

This is when Rowling really focused on the finish. No more f-ing around. This woman had a job to do.

In a way, I was glad the sports championships, tournaments and other silly asides were done with. On the other hand, the story became singleminded in scope. As readers we were no longer inhabiting the world of Harry Potter, we were now on a quest. As much as I've complained about those silly asides, I realized after finishing this book (and especially after the next one) that I missed them. Diversions done well are a nice relief and can add so much depth to story and character.

If there is something to be said about the story and character of Harry Potter, it's that our boy is all growed up. Book #6 is a far cry from #1.

A big and important step is taken in the The Half-Blood Prince. Rowling shows she is not afraid to kill off her most precious babies. Some would say the series had to end at some point and that the killings were not so bold. Ah, but many a publishing and movie executive would disagree and cry out, "Why?! Why kill the cash cow?!?!" Well, she did. Finally Rowling did kill it. She brought this whole satisfying series to an end, and this is its beginning.

Harry Potter is sweet 16. We sure see his growth. He’s definitely all-teenager with girl crushes & spats....but his anger has dropped away since the last book. He’s matured -spreading his wiseness-wings into an inspiring mensch-wizard-teenager.
He’s the only wizard to have survived the killing curse - defying Voldemort’s rage & revenge. As “the chosen one”, Harry prepares to face his destiny with more insight, and shrewdness than we’ve seen from him until now.

This is one of my favorites in the series - ( book 3 is my VERY FAVORITE)...There is still lots of thrilling adventure but getting the backstory on Voldemort’s past was interesting as well....( which filled in holes while creating new questions).

The last few chapters were intense .....the ending surprising & very sad. It’s ‘this’ book that made me wonder — did J.K. Rowling have all 7 books pre-planned ‘before’ she wrote her first book? Hm???